Having a friend or loved one arrested is often a frightening and stressful experience.
Anyone arrested on a DWI
or assault charge is usually arrested without a warrant. In order to
get out of jail they first must see a judge. The judge will set the
amount of their bond. Finally the accused will have the opportunity to
post the bond. There are several types of bonds that can be posted.
Travis County is unique in that is has a Pretrial Services office in the
jail. Pretrial Services interviews every person arrested to determine
if they qualify for a personal bond. Personal bond is a bond that does
not require any money to be paid prior to the person being released from
jail; the arrested person signs the bond, promising to pay the money
only if they fail to appear in court. Pretrial Services’ number is
512-854-9381. Everyone should first try to get released on a personal
bond. It is a free service provided by Travis County.
Once a
person is released on the personal bond, they are then required to pay
an administrative fee of $20.00 to Pretrial Services. If there are
conditions to the bond, the person must abide by those conditions and
can be required to pay a slightly higher fee for that service. However,
all of that is paid after the person is out of jail. Some of the
conditions that may be attached to a bond include alcohol/drug
assessment and classes, anger management classes, an Ignition Interlock
Device for the person’s vehicle, and others. If these conditions are not
followed, the judge can order the bond revoked and the person returned
to jail.
If the person does not qualify for a personal bond, then
they can post a surety bond through a bail bond company or pay the full
cash amount of the bond. Cash bonds are refunded to the defendant once
the case is resolved (either by dismissal, acquittal, or conviction),
but are held by Travis County until that point. Since most cases take
approximately 6 months to be resolved, this can be a long wait.
Furthermore, Travis County takes a percentage of the cash bond to cover
administrative costs and this amount is non-refundable regardless of the
outcome.
The money paid to a bail bondsman or an attorney is nonrefundable. Bail bondsmen
in Austin typically charge between 10-20% of the bond amount and they
may want someone to guarantee the full amount of the bond. They may
require collateral to hold that equals the amount of the bond. The money
must be paid to the bondsman before the person is released from jail.
The list of approved bondsman is at the jail, or in the yellow pages
under bail. Some attorneys act as bail bondsmen and post surety bonds.
BEWARE if you pay such an attorney,
they must represent the person in court or the bond can be set aside
and the defendant will go back to jail. Some attorneys charge a fee to
help defendants expedite personal bond. This is often not necessary. The
personal bond process takes several hours whether the person has an
attorney or not. Pretrial Services is a free service provided by Travis
County.
Sometimes, Pretrial Services denies the defendant a
personal bond but says that they will reconsider that denial if the
person hires an attorney. At that point, it does make sense to hire an
attorney to help obtain the personal bond.
(Travis County formerly
permitted a lawyer to obtain a jail release in the middle of the night,
otherwise known as a Hobby Release. With the availability of judges 24
hours a day at the Travis County Jail, the Hobby Release is no longer
available.)
Contact Betty Blackwell, a Board Certified Texas Criminal Lawyer, 24 hours a day for more information on getting a loved one out of jail.
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